CODE 2, VOL 32, NO 18 : 30 may 2018

Officer Development Program

I am happy to report that following your union’s work with the Resolution Engagement Unit (the REU), I have a written undertaking from Human Capital Management and the SFEST that the current ODP participants will NOT be forced into a merit-based cull of numbers to satisfy after the fact budget problems.

All current ODP participants will continue in the program.

Centralised State-Wide Rostering?

Following successful work between your union and the Resolution and Engagement Unit (the REU), I am pleased to report that an Inspector has been reappointed as the head of the ''State Roster Audit Office'.

Whilst your union is unsure what the purpose of the ‘State Roster Audit Office’ was or will be, given it was established without consulting your union at any point, we are glad that ‘One QFES’ appears to agree that rostering positions ought to be uniformed positions. The UFUQ rejects outright any non-operational employees working in any role (other than administrative duties) in rostering.

Many of you have concerns about the role of the ‘State Roster Audit Office’, and in particular, if it might evolve into attempts to have centralised rostering for the whole state, with no regional rostering, and of course, state wide forced transfers. Your union also rejects this outright, as these ideas will result in rostering disasters, and will result in attempts to make cuts to safe crewing levels.

You know it and your state office knows it.

Decisions being made by non-operational employees are time and time again proven to be failures that are repeatedly reversed either through belated discussions with your union, or disputation at QIRC.

BR Rostering processes in breach of CA16?

The ‘State Roster Audit Office’, since it was created without consultation with your union, has made major changes to the way firefighters are rostered in the BR, again without consultation.

For example, it seems all recruits who have been employed in Brisbane for the past 2 years have been placed onto the Reserve Roster, in breach of the provisions of CA16. This clear breach of CA16 was approved by ‘One QFES’ management.

To be clear, more than 80 4th, 3rd and 2nd class firefighters in BR are currently not rostered by BR rostering, they are rostered by public servants in HCM. Your state office only found this out when these firefighters started approaching us begging to be removed from the constant changes to their rosters by the ‘State Roster Audit Office’.

When your union raised the point that ‘One QFES’ were in breach of CA16, all they did was change the name of the roster from the ‘Reserve Roster’ to the ‘Call Back Reduction Roster’. Your union considers the current method with the new name is still in breach of CA16.

I have asked for a full briefing on the current and future plans for the ‘State Roster Audit Office’, and how QFES intends to roster recruits in BR in line with long standing rostering provisions, instead of the creative accounting style creations of the ‘State Roster Audit Office’.

Your union will give ‘One QFES’ the opportunity to finally begin to consult on and work to resolve these matters with us, in the hope we don’t need to rely on the Resolution Engagement Unit (the REU) to do that work with us.

John Oliver - General Secretary

Authorised by John Oliver General Secretary United Firefighters' Union of Australia, Union of Employees QLD